Friday, March 18 2005 09:41 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

New Delhi: CBI is conducting an inquiry into the reported disappearance of tigers from Sariska sanctuary in Rajasthan and a task force will be constituted to look into the status of the big cats in wildlife parks across the country.

These were announced at a meeting of the National Board for Wildlife, chaired by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, in New Delhi last night (Mar 17, 2005).

A CBI (Central Bureau of Investigation) team will visit Sariska from where many tigers have reportedly gone missing, official sources said.

The Prime Minister also accepted the Board's suggestion to establish a National Wildlife Crime Prevention and Control Bureau, a PMO official said.

Singh also informed the board that the Government will ban any gift of animals by the Head of State or Government to Heads of State or Government or foreign zoos.

The proposed task force would include forest officials, representatives of civil society and wildlife experts. It would be asked to give its report on the current status of project tiger, status of tigers in wildlife parks, and scientific methodology being used for the purpose, the official said.

"The national wildlife crime and prevention bureau is intend to gather intelligence, stop poaching and other illegal trade related to wildlife," Environment Secretary Pradipto Ghosh later told reporters.

A proposal is likely to be made to the Cabinet next month, he said.

Ghosh said five teams were already looking into the matter of management of tiger reserves in the country and by the end of April 2005, reports on all the tiger reserve would be ready.

So far, report was ready on 14 reserves, of which four were found to be in satisfactory condition, seven, good and three in very good status, he said adding the compiled report would be peer reviewed and also placed in Parliament.

Ghosh said enumeration of large carnivores was a difficult process. The analysis carried out by scientists had indicated that there was discrepancy in census figures and sighting of tigers on daily basis in two tiger reserves - Indravati and Sariska. The former was a naxalite-affected area leading to operational problem difficulty in data gathering.

"But there is a problem in Sariska that needs to be addressed," he said. Problem may come up in another reserve, Ranthambore, due to tourism, he said.

Ghosh said the Prime Minister was also concerned over reports of decline of gyps vultures.

Owing to the evidence that exposure of vultures to a painkiller "diclofenac" when they feed on animals treated by this drug can cause kidney failure and death, the board decided to pursue the Ministries of Health and Agriculture to phase this painkiller out in next six months, he said.

The meeting also agreed to set up a task force for trans-boundary protected areas to take initiatives in integrated conservation and development of trans-border initiatives, he said.

Other decisions include retaining the ban on export of captive bred birds of exotic species, identifying eco fragile/eco sensitive zones around national parks and wild life sanctuaries, and permitting scientific research in protected areas by coming up with guidelines on the matter as currently there was widespread adhocism.

The board also decided to rationalise the boundaries of national parks and wildlife sanctuaries, he said.